Share this:

WASHINGTON — By a nearly 2-to-1 ratio, American voters reject President Obama’s plan to try the plotters of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in civilian courts rather than military tribunals, according to a poll released yesterday.

And by an even larger margin, voters say those charged with planning the 9/11 attacks should not be granted the same constitutional rights afforded US citizens, the Quinnipiac Polling Institute survey showed.

“When it comes to how suspected terrorists should be treated by the American judicial system, there is a significant gap between the American people and President Barack Obama,” said Peter Brown of the Quinnipiac Polling Institute.

According to the Quinnipiac Poll, 59 percent of Americans say the suspects should be tried in military courts.

Just 35 percent agree with Obama that they should be tried in civilian courts.

American voters in general feel even more adamant, by 68 percent to 25 percent, that suspects like Khalid Sheik Mohammed not be granted the same constitutional protections that US citizens get in civilian courts.

The poll, conducted nationwide mainly last week, was done after Mayor Bloomberg and other New York officials belatedly raised alarms about the Obama administration’s plans to try Mohammed in lower Manhattan just blocks away from the Ground Zero destruction that he has claimed to be responsible for creating.

Opponents say that holding the trials in New York will only highlight the city once again as one of the world’s biggest terror targets.